The Bogside Boys

by Eoin Dempsey

From the Amazon Top Ten Overall Bestselling author of Finding RebeccaThe war will force him to choose between his community, his family, or the woman he loves. The city of Derry, Northern Ireland, 1972The Bogside is an area in open revolt, cordoned off from the rest of the city of Derry, patrolled by masked IRA men atop burnt out barricades. Subjugated by the Protestant ruling classes and denied their right to vote, life for the Catholic people in Bogside is hard. But a civil rights movement has begun. The march through the Bogside that day was meant to be like any other. That march would change the course of history for the people of Northern Ireland and become known as Bloody Sunday. Mick Doherty has a secret, and it’s time to introduce her to his family. It’s not easy being with a girl from the other side of the divide. He knows that being with Melissa could prove impossible. Protestants and Catholics don’t mix. The march through Bogside will be the perfect time to introduce her to his twin brother Pat at least. Melissa Rice, daughter of a unionist politician and from the Protestant, middle class side of the city, had never even been to the area of Derry known as the Bogside before she met Mick. But now, inspired by the words of Martin Luther King, she is ready to march not only for the civil rights of all the people of Northern Ireland, but for her chance to be with the man she loves. Pat Doherty was never one to get involved in the daily riots in Bogside but is ready to rally against injustice. He knows that now is the time to stand up for the Catholic people of Derry against the Protestant hierarchy and the British occupying forces they support. After witnessing British Army paratroopers shoot 13 people dead on Bloody Sunday, Mick, Pat and Melissa find themselves dragged into a war they never wanted any part of. The Doherty brothers join the IRA, whose ranks are swelling with disaffected young men and women spurred on by the carnage on the streets. But after another horrific act of violence, Mick begins to rethink the allegiances he has made. He realizes will have to choose between a promise to his twin brother, his duty to the community he has sworn to protect, and the woman he loves. The Bogside Boys is a meticulously researched, nuanced family saga, set over twenty-five years of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Ireland, Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Irish Literature

318 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2015

About the author

Eoin Dempsey was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1977. He grew up in the beautiful Dublin suburb of Dalkey, where he and his friends would jump into the icy waters of the Irish Sea (during summertime) to prove their manliness. Eoin had a fantastic time attending Blackrock College, where he played rugby (poorly) and did his best to coast his way through. Eoin’s first ambition was to play rugby for Ireland. Due to a lack of talent, he soon abandoned that goal for the more reasoned path of the rock star. He played in bands through his teens and well into his twenties before harsh reality came calling, and his dreams of being the next Keith Moon faded.

Eoin made the ill-reasoned decision to study business in university and was accepted into University College Dublin to study Commerce in 1995. While Eoin did attend college, studying wasn’t his priority there.

He met his beautiful wife, Jill, while traveling to the USA in 1997, though it would be several years before he managed to break her down and they got together as a couple. It was during Eoin’s second stint in the USA, which he spent with his brother in New York City, that he decided to start writing a novel, for the express purpose of impressing women. This effort was met with mixed success. Eoin finished his first novel a year later. The over hundred and fifty rejections he received from publishers didn’t discourage him. He pinned them to his wall. After spending a year in Australia, where he was fired from many jobs, including picking red and green peppers and toiling for scallops miles out to sea on a fishing trawler, he returned home and decided to write again. Another novel followed while he phoned it in at a number of jobs in financial services in Dublin.

By this time Eoin had managed to convince Jill, the girl he’d met in the USA years before to move over to Dublin. She did so in 2004. It was the best negotiation he ever undertook. They were married in 2007. Jill’s more brilliant negotiating skills led Eoin to move to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2008, just in time for the economy to collapse. The plan to live with her parents for a few weeks turned into eighteen months, as Eoin struggled to retain employment in a fractured economy. It was during this time that he wrote FINDING REBECCA, which would go on to be his first published novel and be translated into fourteen different languages.

Eoin and Jill have three beautiful sons, Robbie, who was born in 2015, Sam, born in 2017, and Jack who came in 2019. Eoin enjoys playing with them and marveling at how much more talented they are at the sports that he loves, particularly golf.

Reviews

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

I don't usually read books from a man's view point but... WOW THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. I couldn't put it down.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ireland has always interested me but honestly not because of the history or traditions but more because.. "Oh, pretty castles"! This book has completely changed all of that.

Another stellar piece of historical fiction! Engrossing from page 1.

[Margaret Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book..enjoyed it so much I didn't want it to end..I'd say it was the best book I've read in years.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book-especially learning more about The Troubles than I knew before. This book made me think about what I might think/do in the main character's situation. I sometimes have a hard time connecting with a male narrator but didn't at all with this book. Mick was very likable and it was very easy to connect with him as the narrator.

[Leslie Schoeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down!

An incredible book that kept me up at night because I had to know what as going happen to these amazing characters. A must read

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from a few editing errors, The Bogside Boys's tense and harrowing plot, characters to care about and forensic research make this is an extremely-enjoyable read. In the right hands, its continual taut drama would make a worthwhile film.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters were well defined although I wonder if anyone as noble as Mick exists in the real world. I enjoyed reading about the troubles. I expected a bit more action, instead it was basically a love story set against the backdrop of the troubles.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eoin Dempsey is a young Irish writer from Ireland who now lives in the United States. Currently he is a teacher in Philadelphia. His first novel, “Finding Rebecca”, is an incredible achievement for a first novel. "The Bogside Boys" is his second work of historical fiction. He obviously did extensive research on the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He met the son of one of the men killed in the Bloody Sunday massacre and an IRA man who had spent 12 years in jail for his activities. He can write very well, but there is an awkwardness at times that is missing from his first novel.

The location, except for a brief stay for the Irish brothers and their mother in Paris, is County Derry. Londonderry is the name preferred by the Protestants. The Irish Catholics live in the Bogside, a cordoned off area outside of town that the Irish call their own. The Protestants live in another area of town and are supported by British soldiers. Two different cultures clash.

Mick and Pat Doherty, twin Irish brothers, live in Bogside with their parents. Using the Westside Story theme, the author writes that Mick is in love with Melissa, a Protestant from the Protestant section of town. Melissa is not a rounded character initially; she lacks depth, plays games and does not seem very interesting a person. Mick, on the other hand, has depth, is honest and direct, is very unselfish and has a wonderful heart. What does he see in Melissa except her looks? The juxtaposition of events with Melissa and events with Mick seem somewhat forced and not fluid for most of the book. However, that improves as the book progresses, and Melissa is a more filled-out character towards the end of the novel.

Their love affair has been a carefully kept secret for 6 months, but Mick decides to introduce her to his family on the day of a peaceful Civil Rights march. Melissa joins the boys and their father for what is supposed to be a peaceful and safe march. However, some of the young Irish lads from another section of the march throw stones and gas canisters at the British soldiers who are trying to keep order. Carried away with enforcement, some soldiers fire on the unarmed, peaceful marchers and kill Mick and Patrick’s father. A few of the boys’ friends who had been throwing stones are killed as well.

Mick and Pat’s mother decides to go to Paris to live with the maternal grandparents. Melissa is to join them soon. However, official investigation of the killings exonerates the soldiers. The Irish marchers are said to be terrorists and the British soldiers acted in self-defense. After hearing the official report, Pat yearns to revenge his father and wants to return to Derry. Mick goes to support him. Trained by the IRA, the boys go on their first mission. Three IRA women meet three British soldiers at a bar and entice them to their car with a story that they are all going to a party. Mick, Pat and a man named, McClean follow them in their car. When the IRA women stop at the side to the road in a deserted area, Mick and his group are told to kill the soldiers. Mick is unable to kill a soldier; he hadn’t known they would be murdering innocent men. He said they should ransom them instead. However, McClean kills one soldier, and Pat kills two of them, including the one that Mick was to kill. Unfortunately, Melissa was in the bar and saw Mick and talked to him.. Maggie, the main IRA woman operative, gets permission to kill Melissa, so that there are no witnesses to link them to the murders.
In order to protect his brother and Melissa, Mick goes to the police and confesses to all the killings.

After serving 15.5 years in prison, Mick gets out of prison with the goal of joining the IRA again in order to sabotage their operations. The main IRA has been making peaceful overtures. Mick joins an IRA radical splinter group that wants to use very violent acts to ignite the Protestants to respond in kind and bring Southern Ireland into the war. The reader has to suspend belief at this point. It does not seem believable to me that Mick would do this after serving all that time in prison.

In any case, in the novel, Mick foils an IRA attempt to blow up dozens of innocent Protestant marchers in Memorial Hall, headquarters of the Apprentice Boys of Derry. Found out for his treachery, Mick is tortured and then rescued by Pat and Mick’s friend, Sean.

All ends well for Mick. He marries Melissa, has a daughter as well as the son he found he had after he got out of prison. We learn the family lives in Dublin, although they have come back to Derry to visit his father’s grave.

The romance was the weakest part of the novel. It was rather awkwardly portrayed. It would have been a better book without the romance. This just does not measure up to Westside Story; it is not done nearly as well. The idea of Mick joining an IRA splinter group in order to sabotage it after his release from prison was not very believable to me either. There were a few other sections that did not make sense, as well. For example, it was not realistic that the brothers would have an intelligent philosophical discussion in the car after Mick was rescued from his torturers. How could Mick even talk at all after being tortured so badly? However, the author did research the situation in Northern Ireland extensively, and there is quite a lot of information to learn in this historical novel. The factual basis is solidly there.

[Robert Gelms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Éirinn go Brách
By Bob Gelms

The Bogside Boys is the new novel by the celebrated Irish author Eoin (Owen) Dempsey. It spans 25 years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as the backdrop for a very complicated love story between Mick Doherty, an Irish Catholic living in the Irish ghetto called Bogside in the Northern Irish town of Derry and Melissa Rice, the Protestant daughter of a Unionist politician who lives a very, as they say, posh life on the correct side of the river.

The story opens on the morning of January 30th, 1972. There is to be a civil rights march through Bogside that Mick and Melissa decide to attend. The march steps off without incident but there is a small contingent of teenage boys who throw stones at law enforcement (the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Para Troops brought in from Belfast to make sure there isn’t any trouble). As the march makes its way through Bogside, gunfire breaks out and the fog of battle encloses everyone. Mick, Melissa, Mick’s Dad and Mick’s brother run for cover.

At first they don’t know who is shooting at whom but soon it becomes clear that the British Para Troops are shooting indiscriminately into the crowd using real bullets instead of rubber bullets which they had previously used exclusively and didn't inflict more damage than a very nasty bruise. Mick’s Dad runs into the street to help a wounded man and is dragging him back to the store front where they have taken cover when he is shot in the head by a soldier kneeling about 30 meters away. All of this is witnessed by Mick, Melissa, and Mick’s brother who make it out alive. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians that day; 13 were killed immediately and one more died later from his wounds. This came to be called Bloody Sunday.

It is the start of the modern version of the Troubles. There is some evidence that the British Government had given the order to use real bullets thinking that the Irish marchers would be motivated to give up the fight with the occupiers and the rest of the country would just roll over entirely. It’s been proven that the British didn't understand what was happening in Ireland and Bloody Sunday did nothing but cause a veritable flood of men volunteering to join the Irish Republican Army .

This included Mick and his brother. Soon the boys are tasked with an operation that involves kidnapping four British soldiers from a pub near Derry. When Mick walks into the pub to meet his contact he sees Melissa, who is sympathetic to the cause but Mick did not tell her he has joined. They have brief words and she disappears. The soldiers get into a car with three girls who are really IRA and they drive into the country, stopping at a lonely deserted field where the soldiers are executed. Mick couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger so another man does the killing.

From this point forward the story is tightly wrapped in the battle between the IRA and British soldiers. Mick and Melissa are caught up in the terror and horror that was Northern Ireland. Their relationship goes through unbelievable pressure. British investigators get wind of whom the IRA killers are and Mick (remember he didn’t do it) turns himself in and admits the killings to protect his brother and the other IRA man. Mick is sentenced to prison, which certainly puts a strain on their relationship and he convinces Melissa to continue on with her life and to forget about him. However, fate isn’t done with the two of them just yet. There are surprises in the story that follow logically out of the plot, but I have to tell you I didn’t see them coming.

Mr. Dempsey has written a superb novel. The love story is believable and not the contrivance it could have been in the hands of a lesser writer. I know quite a bit about Irish history and he got it all right. There are significant historical events all the way up until 1998, and he works them into the plot seamlessly. This is quite the read, with history and a fictional relationship mixing together to produce a compelling story. It should be on your reading list this summer.

[Bill Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good Tail!

Set in the early 60s 70s 80s and 90s this is an interesting tale of families caught in the conflict of northern Ireland. The author does a great job of developing the characters including Irish twin brothers who lose their father early on in the novel.there is Heartache romance and punishment as well as redemption in this three decades long novel. Highly recommend

[Bill Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. I want to read more by this author.

[Niall Balmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived through “the troubles” as a young teenager, I thought this book caught the mood of the time very well. I just wonder if there were people like Mick?

[Jak60 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of The Bogside Boys - a solid historical fiction set in the context of the Irish Troubles of the 70's/80's - was promising, reinforced by raving reviews.
The book turned out a big disappointment; the historical part is weak to say the least, the complex political and historical context of the Northern Ireland conflict provides no more than a very thin wallpaper to the real plot of the novel, which is essentially a love story.
But even this one is no more than a tacky, cheesy soap opera romance.
Characters are worse than one-dimensional, they are silly; the two brothers are simpletons whose motives, even in dramatic and tragic situations, remains
superficial, volatile and often contradictory. Dialogues are a tedious repetition, over and over again, of the same trite topics, with a patronising and condescending tone of voice.
All this underpinned by a prose that would be very kind to define bland and juvenile.
I think 1-star is a rather generous rating.

[T.A. Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The setting is fascinating, to me at least, because I knew almost nothing of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. The author did a great job of making this time and place come to life for the reader, but unobtrusively. Sometimes a historical setting came come across a little lecture-y, but not here. It was a very organic part of the book.

The story was also satisfying. The author lets the reader spend a lot of time inside the heads of his characters, which at first left me thinking there would be no surprises, but that was not the case. I was pleasantly surprised a few times by the direction the story took, which is something I look for in a book.

Overall a very satisfying novel.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eoin Dempsey has a wonderful way of putting the reader in the setting that the historical novel is taking place. The characters seem real and familiar to the reader. This book relates the Northern Ireland problems between the IRA and the British Protestant populations during the 1970's until 2000.

I have read many of Eoin's books and they are all terrific. I thought that this book was a little long, but after finishing I reflected that it had to be in order for the reader to get the feeling of being there.

I never understood the problems in Northern Ireland and after reading this book totally comprehend the situation that existed. A great read and it is reflective of the conflicts around the world in 2022, with the divisions within USA and the rest of the world.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the Culture

When the world around us is going crazy, it is crazy, and not getting better what do you choose to do?

I love stories that have characters that choose to do the right thing no matter the cost to themselves simply because it is the right thing to do. Their consequences sometimes cost them their lives, their families, their everything. Yet, they are not detected from doing what they know is right because it is right.

The roller coaster ride in this book is enough to take my breath away at times... literally.

It was a pleasure to meet them and get to know these characters. They have brought light into my world's darkness. I'm thankful for this book and author.

[Holly Morey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more of a historical romance than I expected. When I chose this book I was looking for more of a history on the conflict in Ireland. Pat and Mick are twins from the Catholic side of town and the witness their father shot down during bloody Sunday. Mick's girlfriend Melissa, a Protestant, also witnessed the shooting. The boys decide to join the IRA to retaliate their father's death. Mick is eventually imprisoned and the story takes on predictable storyline. The story was good, just a bit more romance novel than I expected.

[Diane Depew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - a great read! I stayed up until 2am to finish it. I don’t read much fiction, but as it was set in Northern Ireland during the troubles, it captured my interest. The author has done a masterful job of storytelling of those times through his main character, a young Catholic, whose father was killed on Bloody Sunday, which led to him joining the IRA. Complicating his life was his love for a Protestant young woman. I found myself drawn to these characters as if they were real people and at times felt like I was sitting on the edge of my seat, concerned as to what would happen next.

[Frank T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it. You will love it!

I thought that the civil unrest in Ireland was the last thing I wanted to read about; but decided to take a chance because I have enjoyed reading other Eoin Dempsey WW2 historical books. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a truly engrossing and remarkable experience. Although I know nothing about the Irish Catholic and Protestant struggle, I got caught up in Mick and Melissa’s story, and had to know what happened to them. I would totally recommend this book without reservation.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Senseless hatred defined

This is a compelling story of love, hate, political upheaval, and how that tears a family apart and brings them back together. I still have a hard time accepting the division between Catholic and Protestant in Northern Ireland: the British government screwed up big-time there. A truly good man shines throughout this tale - I so admire Mick Doherty.

[Dennis McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dempsey proved he could spin a yarn with Finding Rebelcca. I knew that going in to Bogside Boys. But here he was on his home turf.

The history of “the troubles” in Northern Ireland is complex and little understood But we need to understand it. The pain was intense. The history is still very much with us.

This is a fine young writer still climbing to the apex.

[Rita Shire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eoin Dempsey is one of the best new writers on the literary scene!! The Bogside Boys offers an insight into the complexities of the Irish Troubles, the political splintering, and the hatred between the Catholics and the Protestants. This book is well worth anyone’s time. It was a fabulous read!!!

[Darlene A. Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful rendering of the Troubles in Ireland. For those of you who never understood the issues between the Catholics and Protestants, this is a good way to get clarification. Add to that a wonderful love story and you have a great book.

[Billye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book about the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1972 to 1999 between the Catholics and the Protestants. It was also a good love story. I found it very interesting and read it in a day.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat predictable love story between the Catholic boy and the Protestant girl. I did like the way a chapter ended and the story picked up after a time lapse. A good read that personalized the "troubles" in Northern Ireland

[Barry quigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth a read.

Nice wee read, not my normal kind of book but really enjoyed it. Was more of a love story than a story about the troubles but really good & had me right from the start.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

It's about a war between Irish Catholics and Protestant faith and British people. How twin brothers band together and how they live their lives after father dies in bloody Sunday protests.

[Nikki Ebner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing story. I, personally have been hating on the British and loving the Irish for quite some time now and this book gave me more insight into why I’m right. It was the perfect mix of historic significance and personal issues during a very troubled era in Irish history.

[Ruth Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good storyline and believable characters but way too many typos and unnecessary words like "but" twice in one sentence. I would have given a higher rating if there were no typos.

[Michael Sanderson-green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it started off a bit Romeo/Juliet but got passed that and was a great read about the irish'troubles' somethings never change when you look at the Palestinian troubles now